Summer Sampler 2016 Block 1: Turkey Vulture

Today's the day: We're kicking off Summer Sampler 2016! Every Monday, all summer long, those of you who have signed up for the Summer Sampler 2016 subscription will receive a link to download full instructions for a new block. The blocks are by Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts, Katie of Swim Bike Quilt, myself, and seven of our bestest designer friends, and we'll be sewing right along with you as we go. After all of the block instructions have been delivered, you'll get patterns for three different sampler quilt finishing options using the blocks we've been making together. Faith, Katie, and I have been blown away by the response to this quilt-along and are really looking forward to a summer of sewing with all of you!

This week's block is called Turkey Vulture, by AnneMarie Chany of Gen X Quilters. AnneMarie is the queen of samplers—she's run a popular Block-of-the-Month program for the last several years, and she recently wrote the fab sampler book, Sister Sampler Quilts. So we knew she'd be a great designer to contribute to Summer Sampler 2016! And Turkey Vulture might be one of my favorite blocks in the series.

Selecting the fabric for my blocks ended up being a pretty easy choice: I decided to emulate the digital mock-up we made of all of the Summer Sampler 2016 blocks. I figured the mock-up was appealing enough that one of us should go ahead and make it a reality. 😂 And these are colors that call out to me anyway—I actually already had on hand most of the solids that coordinate to the digital colors we used. (I know, you're shocked that I had aqua and teal in my solids collection, right? SHOCKED.)

So here's my Turkey Vulture block, done up in yummy solids inspired by our mock-up. This block was not difficult, and I love the pixelated look of the center. My advice is to be sure to keep the color choices in that center unit random, yet balanced—don't be afraid to play around with the layout of those little squares until they're perfect.

It's not too late to join in the Summer Sampler 2016 fun! Click here to purchase your subscription.

No matter when you buy, all previously-released files will become available to download immediately, and you'll automatically receive a link to download the new patterns each Monday going forward. We also have a fun and busy Facebook group which is available only to subscribers! For those of you who have already subscribed, you should have already received an email with a link to download this week's block. If you did not receive it, please check your junk/spam folder. And don't forget to hashtag your Instagram photos #summersampler2016 (or just click here to check out what everybody else is making!)